Chapter 186: The Living Flame
Coop passed through the superheated wind barrier without so much as flinching. To be honest, the wind was extraordinarily uncomfortable, but compared to so many other trials and tribulations, it was a fleeting annoyance. The heat didn’t threaten his health pool, so it was something easily withstood. Coop could feel his hair whipping in the wind, singing at the tips, but his steps were steady. The discomfort wasn’t that the wind was hot enough to ignite grains of sand that were stripped from the packed ground, turning them into popping sparks, though that was obviously a factor. The issue was that it was incredibly dry. Before Coop launched his retaliatory salvo on the overconfident High Priest, he was thinking about how desperately he wanted some chapstick.
After Coop re-emerged from the barrier, he leaned forward while his pace quickened. Following a large step, taken as if he was preparing a long jump, his body coiled like a spring and he launched himself at the priest. His planted foot left an indentation in the seared ground with a webbing of cracks expanding outwards, each letting small flames leak onto the surface from below ground caverns. He lunged with his ethereal shield held in front like a battering ram and his one-handed warhammer trailing behind his hip on the right, dragging heated air in its wake that blurred the flickering light from the flames.
Huracan managed to lean backwards in the instant that Coop raced across the gap between the pair, but the uncommitted dodge wasn’t enough to avoid the first strike. The head of the hammer arced from behind the shield in a low side swing that slammed into the pitch black forearm of Huracan’s reformed limb. The collision sounded like the ethereal hammer struck a solid metal anvil, moving as fast as a gunshot, and to Coop’s surprise, the High Priest’s arm remained intact, though it was flung out of the way with a shower of sparks.
The High Priest barely kept his feet as the force of the quick strike left him reeling, shifting him backwards and to the side. He seemed more surprised than Coop that he hadn’t taken critical damage from the force of the blow, but Coop wasn’t about to let up the pressure. He had taken the initiative with the first direct attack after the combatants faced each other on even ground, and even though the High Priest had yet to acclimate to his increase in stats, Coop had no limiter when it came to momentum in battles.
From his very first life or death struggle with another human, the outcome had been determined by who could seize the momentum during combat. How many battles had come afterwards? In Coop’s mind, every one of his fights had been determined by the momentum gained after his first victory, carried forward from the start. The heaviness of his attacks was built up with the first Ancient Defender defeated with Jones at his side like snow rolling down the side of a mountain, picking up victories as he went.
The Avatar of Huracan hadn’t built up his Strength one swing at a time, but instead had found a way to cravenly steal it from others. Coop didn’t believe it was truly his to use. This was an opportunity to prove it.
“How many people does it take to reach level 400?” Coop hissed as his second strike whirled in the hot air, leaving a warped blur that trailed its motion.
The ding of his warhammer cracking Huracan’s other arm came before the response, forcing the High Priest to stumble further backwards as sparks bounced off Coop’s armor and rained onto the sand. Despite being as harried as he was, the High Priest clung to whatever confidence he had left in the arbitrary number that indicated his level. He had to believe the level difference would be enough for him to survive or he would already be admitting defeat.
“Hundreds of thousands.” He sneered, a sick smile forming at the edge of his mouth as he embraced his perceived advantage like a security blanket. “Less if they had leveled like you have, but most are too weak.” He taunted, obviously planning on adding Coop’s progress to his own.
The High Priest managed a wide swing with a blackened metal fist that Coop blocked with his shield. Flames exploded from the strike, lighting the darkened valley with a burst of orange.
Coop’s hammer rose in the same instant, smashing into Huracan’s torso and sending molten ejecta shooting out of his back. Rather than blood, it was like the High Priest’s guts had been turned into a forge.
Coop pressed forward, but the High Priest barely slowed, even after receiving significant injuries. The Priest twisted to his side to sweep at Coop’s legs with a spinning kick in the moment that Coop eliminated the little distance they had. Coop hopped over the leg, and prepared to bring his hammer straight down, but was interrupted by a gust of the superheated, dry wind, sending him flipping backwards once he left the security of the ground and his stable stance.